Peeling of cold water shrimp such as Pandalus Borealus has remained essentially the same since effective peeling of this type shrimp was made possible by the "Shrimp Peeling and Cooking Apparatus" invented by J. M. Lapeyre and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,734 dated May 21, 1968 and reissued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 26,971. According to that patent, a cooking hood is suspended over an inclined conveyor belt which moves unpeeled shrimp from a "feeder tank" to the entry point of an automatic shrimp peeling machine. Perforated steam pipes are located above and in close proximity to the shrimp such that escaping steam is forced under pressure from the steam pipes down onto the shrimp so as to cook the shrimp prior to the shrimp encountering the machine peeler.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,406 also issued to Lapeyre on July 10, 1973 provides a pivotally mounted support frame which allows cooking apparatus of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,34 to be moved out of the way of the feeder tank for cleaning, maintenance, repair, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,652 issued to J. A. Chauvin on June 1, 1971 disclose apparatus for preventing peeled shrimp from curling as they are cooked. More specifically, this apparatus includes upper and lower conveyor belts which move synchronously under a steam hood. The already peeled and flexible shrimp are placed on the lower conveyor belt so they are straight and non-curled. The lower conveyor belt then moves the straight or uncurled shrimp under the upper conveyor belt which contacts the shrimp from the top side such that the peeled, uncurled shrimp are maintained and held between the top and bottom belts in a straight and uncurled condition. The shrimp are then steam cooked and prevented from curling as they are moved through a cooking zone by the two upper and lower conveyor belts.
Thus, although all of the above mentioned patents are at least partially related to apparatus for cooking shrimp, the Chauvin patent is only concerned with maintaining large already peeled shrimp (Gulf or warm water shrimp are peeled more effectively before cooking) substantially straight and uncurled while being cooked. The two Lapeyre patents are related in that they are concerned with precooking cold water shrimp such as Pandalus Borealis prior to peeling. These Lapeyre patents represent the state of the art as it is and has been since about 1971. However, the present application includes improvements which result in a final product having improved quality in that it is more evenly cooked even when the size of the shrimp varies widely.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide apparatus and methods for more effectively peeling certain species of shrimp by regulating and controlling the pre-peeling cooking process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus for consistently cooking of certain northern water shrimp regardless of size.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide cooking apparatus which requires less steam for proper cooking of shrimp than previous cooking apparatuses.